Over thirty years of research have established {\em program analysis}
as the `art' of extracting run-time characteristics of a program
already at compile time. The wide spectrum of programming languages and
paradigms led to a large body of theory, algorithms and
implementations, each typically developed for a specific scenario. Only
recently the investigation of this body with respect to abstract {\em
profiles} has begun, with the goal to support cross-fertilization
between the involved communities. This investigation does not only
justifiy the development of the various different methods and
algorithms. It also reveals the power of {\em heterogeneous}
approaches to program analysis that make use of a number of different
analysis methods.
The talk will focus on the necessity of profile-based, heterogeneous
program analysis methods, and their impact {\em beyond} their original
application domain. In particular, it will be shown that a careful
balance of generality and precision may overcome some at first sight
unavoidable hurdles, concerning both computability and practical
acceptance.
Last modified: Mon Apr 17 14:32:37 MET DST 2000